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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Dec 26, 2017 22:42:24 GMT -5
On that front I never entirely understood how the hacker gimmick was supposed to transition into the ring. The only real things I could think of would be hokey as hell. I was referring not so much to the gimmick specifically, but the demeanor/tone of his persona vs what he actually did. There was this brooding aggression to everything outside the ring, but in the ring he was a tazmanian devil from the jump. There was no clear distinction between whether he was a heel or face (same issue "the drifter" had) so we'd get this backstage promos of him threatening anarchy and unpredictability, but then one he hit the ring he'd be slapping the mat and looking for the fans' approval. As for how the hacker gimmick itself could function (which, like I said, is a different conversation than the point I'm making but since it was brought up) there is a lot he can do with it. He can hack into phones to exploit weaknesses/stir up conflict, hack into the arena's lighting/electrical grids, hack into whatever controls the locks on cages and elimination chambers, hack into the Royal Rumble counter, hack into the referees' earpieces, hack into other wrestlers' history and personal lives, hack into their records and get them in legal trouble, hack into some offshore account to get money to bribe/payoff someone. Then that character could later blossom into the type of hacker who could assembled a militant separatist group, or fall from grace and start a radical band of anti-tech militants, or what his access to all the knowledge and data in the world could lead him to study or where he could travel. With how much technology is a part of every section of our day-to-day lives, let's not act like there's a limited cap as to how a hacker character can be a relevant part of WWE storylines and tied to today without being contrived or hokey. It's the most realistic way a character could have close-to omnipotent knowledge of his opponents with a threats that deep down we all to-some-degree have a fear of. Given how often WWE tries to use social media to further angles, a hacker character could get alot of mileage from it. Have him occasionally hack WWE-owned accounts to spread his message. Challenge his foes via hacking and etc.
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Post by King Devitt: Scrum Guzzler on Dec 27, 2017 1:55:19 GMT -5
On that front I never entirely understood how the hacker gimmick was supposed to transition into the ring. The only real things I could think of would be hokey as hell. I was referring not so much to the gimmick specifically, but the demeanor/tone of his persona vs what he actually did. There was this brooding aggression to everything outside the ring, but in the ring he was a tazmanian devil from the jump. There was no clear distinction between whether he was a heel or face (same issue "the drifter" had) so we'd get this backstage promos of him threatening anarchy and unpredictability, but then one he hit the ring he'd be slapping the mat and looking for the fans' approval. As for how the hacker gimmick itself could function (which, like I said, is a different conversation than the point I'm making but since it was brought up) there is a lot he can do with it. He can hack into phones to exploit weaknesses/stir up conflict, hack into the arena's lighting/electrical grids, hack into whatever controls the locks on cages and elimination chambers, hack into the Royal Rumble counter, hack into the referees' earpieces, hack into other wrestlers' history and personal lives, hack into their records and get them in legal trouble, hack into some offshore account to get money to bribe/payoff someone. Then that character could later blossom into the type of hacker who could assembled a militant separatist group, or fall from grace and start a radical band of anti-tech militants, or what his access to all the knowledge and data in the world could lead him to study or where he could travel. With how much technology is a part of every section of our day-to-day lives, let's not act like there's a limited cap as to how a hacker character can be a relevant part of WWE storylines and tied to today without being contrived or hokey. It's the most realistic way a character could have close-to omnipotent knowledge of his opponents with a threats that deep down we all to-some-degree have a fear of. All. of. this. I'm baffled people think a hacker gimmick couldn't get over. With how much we're run by technology to the point if an EMP hit us we'd be done, they'd have angles for years they could do with him. They could have easily made him into any modern tech villain in a movie ever, but with a wrestling spin. Anything can get over if it's written correctly. If a freaking undead mortician can get over, a modern day hacker can as well. Hell you want buzz for the company, have him go on talk shows and hack stuff on those during the interviews as well. It'd make some kind of news. Now...to be fair...if he'd come into the company looking like he did on the indies and NOT in a singlet with stupid f***ing hair, it might have had more legs under it. I always felt that he would make it before Ambrose, because at the time Moxley felt like a Heath Ledger Joker clone, and Sami had a unique vibe about him. Oh, how wrong I was.
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Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Dec 27, 2017 2:10:12 GMT -5
It worked out for the best honestly, Eric Young as the grizzled insane tactical leader of the group has really made it special.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Dec 27, 2017 2:35:53 GMT -5
It worked out for the best honestly, Eric Young as the grizzled insane tactical leader of the group has really made it special. Even then, things didn’t really click until they became de facto faces in their feud with The Authors Of Pain. Before that, you could argue that the only one who was really clicking was Cross.
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Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 234,272
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Dec 27, 2017 3:00:32 GMT -5
It worked out for the best honestly, Eric Young as the grizzled insane tactical leader of the group has really made it special. Even then, things didn’t really click until they became de facto faces in their feud with The Authors Of Pain. Before that, you could argue that the only one who was really clicking was Cross. I would at LEAST argue Killian Dain was working out nicely. That dude was showing some major league stuff early and now he's looking like he has HUGE upside if he remains healthy. Wolfe broke out during the face run doing some crazy spots and building his character up from "Guy who bangs head during drum riff of theme", Cross was an instant catch yes, EY just works as a leader, a lot of people always thought World Elite was given up on too quickly in TNA and Young just works as an unhinged captain and this is reproving that.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2017 3:13:22 GMT -5
We definitely got the best side of this deal with current sanity
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Dec 27, 2017 3:21:27 GMT -5
Even then, things didn’t really click until they became de facto faces in their feud with The Authors Of Pain. Before that, you could argue that the only one who was really clicking was Cross. I would at LEAST argue Killian Dain was working out nicely. That dude was showing some major league stuff early and now he's looking like he has HUGE upside if he remains healthy. Wolfe broke out during the face run doing some crazy spots and building his character up from "Guy who bangs head during drum riff of theme", Cross was an instant catch yes, EY just works as a leader, a lot of people always thought World Elite was given up on too quickly in TNA and Young just works as an unhinged captain and this is reproving that. Oh yeah, it's all good now... I just don't remember a lot of kind things being said early on, especially when it was still Fulton in the group instead of Dain and Cross still had people wanting her in her previous goofy character instead of being a rabid psycho.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Dec 27, 2017 13:54:38 GMT -5
I was referring not so much to the gimmick specifically, but the demeanor/tone of his persona vs what he actually did. There was this brooding aggression to everything outside the ring, but in the ring he was a tazmanian devil from the jump. There was no clear distinction between whether he was a heel or face (same issue "the drifter" had) so we'd get this backstage promos of him threatening anarchy and unpredictability, but then one he hit the ring he'd be slapping the mat and looking for the fans' approval. As for how the hacker gimmick itself could function (which, like I said, is a different conversation than the point I'm making but since it was brought up) there is a lot he can do with it. He can hack into phones to exploit weaknesses/stir up conflict, hack into the arena's lighting/electrical grids, hack into whatever controls the locks on cages and elimination chambers, hack into the Royal Rumble counter, hack into the referees' earpieces, hack into other wrestlers' history and personal lives, hack into their records and get them in legal trouble, hack into some offshore account to get money to bribe/payoff someone. Then that character could later blossom into the type of hacker who could assembled a militant separatist group, or fall from grace and start a radical band of anti-tech militants, or what his access to all the knowledge and data in the world could lead him to study or where he could travel. With how much technology is a part of every section of our day-to-day lives, let's not act like there's a limited cap as to how a hacker character can be a relevant part of WWE storylines and tied to today without being contrived or hokey. It's the most realistic way a character could have close-to omnipotent knowledge of his opponents with a threats that deep down we all to-some-degree have a fear of. Given how often WWE tries to use social media to further angles, a hacker character could get alot of mileage from it. Have him occasionally hack WWE-owned accounts to spread his message. Challenge his foes via hacking and etc. except they really don't. at most they have Cole talking about how they had words on Twitter with maybe a screen shot of it. at best you'd have cole say something like "and Crowe even hacked Vacant's twitter this week!" but fine let's say he does hack someone's twitter... what the hell does he say on it? use it to talk about how awesome he is? That's pretty damned lame. The WWE sure as hell aren't going to let anyone post anything that normal hackers do when they hack someone's twitter (mostly just terrible shit) Not to mention oh no he hacked the music to play the wrong song, or the entrance graphics... that's pretty damned hokey too... the most you could do is like the one Hade Vansen promo where it looked like he took over the show... but even that will get old hat if that's all he does. Not to mention my statement was specifically how does ANY of this transfer to in the ring, because that's where everything has to lead to and where the majority of characters fall down. Crazy cult leader can translate into the ring by having his cult members or just him doing weird shit like the spider walk. Hacker really doesn't unless he slides out of the ring and grabs a tablet and starts hitting buttons to mess with the lights or something... but again that would look hokey as hell. If a freaking undead mortician can get over, a modern day hacker can as well. Hell you want buzz for the company, have him go on talk shows and hack stuff on those during the interviews as well. It'd make some kind of news. Now...to be fair...if he'd come into the company looking like he did on the indies and NOT in a singlet with stupid f***ing hair, it might have had more legs under it. Zombie Mortician debuted when Wrestling was a cartoon show. If the WWE was anything like the WWF in 1992 a hacker gimmick would fit right in... but it isn't and it is much more based in reality than what people would want of the hacker gimmick. and again unlike the hacker gimmick. A Zombie mortician still translated to the ring as well, by being an unstoppable force that couldn't feel pain and even if you got him down he'd sit up right away. No talk show is going to deal with the WWE's bullshit and allow a guy to mess with their production, that is just not happening.
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Rave
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Post by Rave on Dec 28, 2017 1:12:34 GMT -5
On that front I never entirely understood how the hacker gimmick was supposed to transition into the ring. The only real things I could think of would be hokey as hell. I was referring not so much to the gimmick specifically, but the demeanor/tone of his persona vs what he actually did. There was this brooding aggression to everything outside the ring, but in the ring he was a tazmanian devil from the jump. There was no clear distinction between whether he was a heel or face (same issue "the drifter" had) so we'd get this backstage promos of him threatening anarchy and unpredictability, but then one he hit the ring he'd be slapping the mat and looking for the fans' approval. As for how the hacker gimmick itself could function (which, like I said, is a different conversation than the point I'm making but since it was brought up) there is a lot he can do with it. He can hack into phones to exploit weaknesses/stir up conflict, hack into the arena's lighting/electrical grids, hack into whatever controls the locks on cages and elimination chambers, hack into the Royal Rumble counter, hack into the referees' earpieces, hack into other wrestlers' history and personal lives, hack into their records and get them in legal trouble, hack into some offshore account to get money to bribe/payoff someone. Then that character could later blossom into the type of hacker who could assembled a militant separatist group, or fall from grace and start a radical band of anti-tech militants, or what his access to all the knowledge and data in the world could lead him to study or where he could travel. With how much technology is a part of every section of our day-to-day lives, let's not act like there's a limited cap as to how a hacker character can be a relevant part of WWE storylines and tied to today without being contrived or hokey. It's the most realistic way a character could have close-to omnipotent knowledge of his opponents with a threats that deep down we all to-some-degree have a fear of. I don't really think a hacker gimmick with all the bells and whistles could translate that well outside a full-scale operation like WWE (just not enough opportunities there), but as for the tone/demeanor Sami should've been going for, I think I understand. Something like this. SMASH Wrestling's Scotty O'Shea, formerly wrestling's personification of the playful hacker trope, reinvented into an Anonymous-esque heel version of the gimmick. O'Shea plays the in-ring aspect darker than he did previously so there's no disconnect, to the point of slicing his own palm open and "baptizing" another guy in his own blood. (The video's on the SMASH Facebook page, I'm not linking it out of consideration for the squeamish. It reminded me of the Age of the Fall's debut.)
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Post by El Cokehead del Knife Fight on Dec 28, 2017 18:28:55 GMT -5
I would at LEAST argue Killian Dain was working out nicely. That dude was showing some major league stuff early and now he's looking like he has HUGE upside if he remains healthy. Wolfe broke out during the face run doing some crazy spots and building his character up from "Guy who bangs head during drum riff of theme", Cross was an instant catch yes, EY just works as a leader, a lot of people always thought World Elite was given up on too quickly in TNA and Young just works as an unhinged captain and this is reproving that. Oh yeah, it's all good now... I just don't remember a lot of kind things being said early on, especially when it was still Fulton in the group instead of Dain and Cross still had people wanting her in her previous goofy character instead of being a rabid psycho. Nikki isn't a psycho, she's just Scottish
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